Yesterday Was a Million Years Ago

There is a certain comfort in getting the updated credit card statement the month after you've cleared a debt that you've been whittling down for maybe 14 years. That debt represented a succession of unfortunate events that occurred post-college, exacerbated by a staggering of other unfortunate events over the years. Hard to get ahead when you're periodically getting pummeled by obstacles... pay-cuts at work, suffering unemployed stretches, suffering rent changes, paying for a wedding, paying for a divorce...

And through it all, since my early 20s, there was the constant of this beast of credit card debt. A beast that grew and shrank, depending on how well things were going. During the flush stretches, I'd take larger chunks out of it. During the leanest stretches, I paid close to the minimum each month... dreading the appearance of that bloody statement in the mailbox...

Now that it's paid off (thanks to a play I wrote 7 years ago), it really does seem to mark the end of an era. It's a huge thing I no longer have to worry about every month.

Ashes to ashes.

All those bad yesterdays, paid for. Now I need to plot a better tomorrow.